


Ghost of the past

by Bloodyvalentine



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bisexual Jackson Whittemore, Drunk Jackson Whittemore, Enemies to Strangers, Enemies to Strangers to Lovers, Future Fic, Hopeful Ending, I'm making this a new trope sue me, Jackson Whittemore Returns, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Rituals, Open ending resolving epilogue, Relationship Talk, SPOILER:, Secrets, Stackson - Freeform, Strangers to Lovers, True Mates, Werewolf Jackson Whittemore, Werewolf Mates, added epilogue, spilled secrets, telling the friends, twice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-10-27 17:19:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17770979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloodyvalentine/pseuds/Bloodyvalentine
Summary: It takes Jackson exactly twenty-nine minutes to run into Stiles. The other boy -man now- looks lost in thought when they bump into each other, barely realizes it, but jumps back into it when they look into each others eyes. A grin spreads on his face and one of his dimples pushes the mole on his cheek up ridiculously high."Hey, you're the ambulance guy from a few days ago! Seems we've already made a habit of running into each other! I'm Stiles, I know it's a weird name but trust me, you'd think my actual first name is even weirder."orJackson changed a lot in London. Enough to not be recognized when he comes back to Beacon Hills and runs into people he knew.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has taken me ages to complete. It has accompanied me for a long time, quietly waiting for me to finish it, and now it is. So take it, and keep it for all it's worth.  
> wait, no. Don't keep it, I actually really like it. You can keep any spelling mistakes you find though, as all of my works, it is beta'd only by my PC's spellcheck. Please do notify me though so I can take them out of the work
> 
> Another small information ahead: the two ~~ usually mean a change of perspective, even though all of it is written in third person. They are also used as a scenebreak sometimes.

Jackson changed a lot in London.  
When he first moved there, he just wanted to get as far away from Beacon Hills as possible. With all the bad memories he had been through here- becoming the kanima, getting kidnapped by Stilinski, dying on the lacrosse field, getting _run over_ by Stilinski, all before turning into a werewolf with Lydia's help only to break up with her before he ran off- it was probably understandable to the people who knew. But over time he had actually started to try and improve for the better. 

He found the werewolf pack that was resident in the small London suburb right away, introduced himself and presented his intentions. The Cuevas pack had immigrated there a few decades ago from Spain, and the alpha, Stefan ("Call me Stef, it's shorter"), hadn't heard about the things that had happened in Beacon Hills, so he appreciated the honesty Jackson showed. They allowed him to stay and Stef even offered him to see them as his pack for the time he resided in London, to run with them on the full moons and train the young boy in the things Derek hadn't been able to teach him, under the conditions that he obeyed their rules and didn't cause any trouble. He agreed happily, finally feeling like he had somebody there to support him like he never had in Beacon Hills. Of course, he had always pretended that he didn't need anyone, but it had been lonely to say the least.

The next and probably most visible change he made was calling the best barber shop in London right after he got back from the pack meeting. The next day, his hair was dyed a dark brown, almost black color that even his parents hardly recognized him with when they looked at him for the first few seconds. Over the few weeks until school started, he let it grow out a little longer from his usual neat and short cut, and seeing the change in the mirror made him feel a bit lighter.

His first day at the new school, he was more insecure than he thought he would be. But he wanted to actually make an effort and be approachable and kind this year, so he pulled himself together and smiled instead of letting his anxious sarcastic snark take over.  
Then he tried out for lacrosse and got in, but he didn't even try to fight for position of the captain. He subtly turned down the invitation to join the swim team. Being bonded to Matt as his master still made him panic every time he got to close to a pool.

He found actual friends instead of people who were nice out of fear to anger him because of his social standing. He was popular, sure. But he wasn't the rude king of high school anymore. And he kind of liked it that way, to not have to think about everything that he did and said to keep up the illusion of Jackson Whittemore that everyone liked for the money and the popularity. Of course, being in a private school full of rich people did help a little with that. Some of them were snobs and bothered him enough to still bring out the asshole in him, but now it was more of a reaction to douchbaggery and an amusement for the guys he had sitting next to him at the lunch table. These guys were also the reason he started going by Jax instead of his full first name. One of them had jokingly told him he'd need a nickname to sound less posh, and it had stuck around.

 

Somewhere along the lines, he had met Ethan, an omega strolling around London, that joined the Cuevas pack on their runs sometimes. He knew that the other boy had been in Beacon Hills, and had been in a relationship with Danny for some time, but they didn't talk about it for months. Not until Jackson managed to ask him about what had happened there after he had left. Danny never wanted to get involved in werewolf business, even knowing that Ethan was one of them, so he and Jackson had never talked about it. Now, he was finally getting filled in, and it made him worry. And he thought to himself that he might have to go back there some time, just to see. He couldn't even explain why he thought that.  
Ethan was not only the person to make him realize that Beacon Hills was still home to him, but also the one to make him realize that he was bi.  
They had been sitting on Jackson's bed talking about Danny at some point and his coming out to Jackson, and somehow it had ended in him asking Ethan how to even be sure that he liked boys.  
Ethan's suggestion to "just try it out, you'll notice if you like it" ended with the two of them kissing turning into making out turning into a relationship. It had only been so long before they both agreed that they were better friends than lovers, but Jackson was glad about it because it had made him more comfortable with himself and had given him quite some insights about his past. Especially about pulling some awkward boy's metaphorical pigtails and shoving him into lockers during his years in middle school and BHHS.

He attempted force the idea out of his mind for a long time, anyways, trying to forget the pull the other boy still had on him. It came back up every month, and for days, all he could think about when he was alone without distractions, were moles and freckles dotting soft, pale skin. A scrawny body under too wide clothes. An always moving mouth, talking, biting, licking his lips.  
But he didn't want to get too lost in the ideas that came up with every thought of Stiles. Ideas of a home he wouldn't have.

 

~~

 

He doesn't come close to admitting he wants to go back to Beacon Hills, misses Danny and Lyds and even his old house, even when he's close to finishing his paramedic apprenticeship and looking at job offers in California. More specifically, Beacon County. To be honest, he's drunk out of his mind after a party with his co-workers, celebrating the fact that he just got the offer to be a fix employee once he's done when he does it, but still. Accepting for himself that this isn't really where he wants to be isn't as easy as you'd think it would be.  
He still doesn't, really, even when he's more sober the next morning and still browsing offers in America, close to clicking on the link to send an application once or twice.  
Even when he's done with training and declines the offer to continue working at his previous hospital.  
It hasn't even really sunken in when he buys a one-way plane ticket to California.  
Only when he contacts Lydia again, the only person from Beacon Hills except for Danny that he had kept in contact with, that he's coming home and asks her to pick him up, he realizes that he's actually done that. Actually still thinks of it like that. Home, in a way that London is close to now, but not quite.  
And that he's happy to have decided to do this. 

 

~~

 

No one else knows he's coming back and he doesn't really want them to. He lets Danny know so the other boy could drop by, since it's close to summer and he's supposed to be finishing his last year at MIT, but that was it.  
Meeting Lydia is kind of weird for the first two moments that they stare at each other at the airport, but then she starts smiling and comes close to hug him, and everything feels like it did way back before they even were together. And he realizes it's definitely better like that, being best friends, maybe even like close siblings.

She also helps him get a job at the Beacon Hills Emergency Department, knowing they're still searching for full-time employers, as staff is currently quite short when it comes to manning the ambulances. And due to that, maybe it's kinda her fault that he meets that one person he subconsciously came back to see again, too.

 

~~

 

Jackson didn't plan on meeting the boy again quite like that, though. He had kind of figured he'd stumble across him on a walk through the neighborhood or the town, have some time to talk and maybe apologize for how he behaved in high school and, if everything went quite well, maybe invite him to have a drink at one of the smaller bars in the evening. At least, that's how it went when he daydreamed about it, even though he would never admit to having hoped that would happen.  
Instead, he meets Stiles at work. Not even in a somewhat quiet situation, but at a homicide that he had been called to in case he'd still be able to help the woman attacked by her husband. 

Jackson tries his best, even in the still unfamiliar situation of the middle-aged woman lying on their hallway floor bleeding out, with policemen buzzing around the porch and street as he gets the woman up on a stretcher with a colleague, the sirens still going off, so that he doesn't even notice the person that almost runs into him.

He turns around, letting his helper (Mark, was it?) push the stretcher into their ambulance, and stares at the man in front of him. He's wearing an officer's uniform, gun at his hip, and the moles dotting his skin seem eerily familiar. Maybe, Jackson thinks, it's because he fantasized about tracing them with his fingers and his tongue one too many times late at night in his dark London apartment. He takes him in for just a second, how the boy he had once known has grown up into a man, soft stubble across his chin and flailing body filled out with muscles, and throws him a soft smile. Stiles smiles right back at him, and Jackson isn't sure whether he has recognized him or just thinks he's a stranger being nice or even flirty.  
Then he has to turn around, jump into the ambulance to help his patient, and it breaks the fragile moment they shared.  
He goes on with his work pretending that nothing special happened, but whenever he has a moment to actively think, Stiles' face resurfaces. But he doubts that he'd actually get to see him any time soon.

 

~~

 

Sometimes he wonders just how often the universe likes to prove him wrong. Because exactly three days after the homicide incident -Which his patient survived, but barely- he happens to walk into the other man again.  
Danny had finally managed to get back to Beacon Hills because his break had started, and they want to celebrate just the way they had done sometimes when they were still in school: Getting into Jungle with their fake ID's and drinking and dancing. Only this time, they wouldn't be needing fake ID's. It makes him feel somewhat old to go back to the place in such a different situation, and the way the small club has changed in the last few years makes it feel even more odd. Over all, the main space around the dance floor was still the same, but with changing decorations and arrangements, everything feels much different.

It takes Jackson exactly twenty-nine minutes to run into Stiles. The other boy -man now- looks lost in thought when they bump into each other, barely realizes it, but jumps back into it when they look into each others eyes. A grin spreads on his face and one of his dimples pushes the mole on his cheek up ridiculously high.  
"Hey, you're the ambulance guy from a few days ago! Seems we've already made a habit of running into each other! I'm Stiles, I know it's a weird name but trust me, you'd think my actual first name is even weirder."  
So, still as bubbly as ever, Jackson thinks,even though he seems a bit more relaxed and more comfortable in his situation. Jackson cracks a small, flirty smile at him and holds out his hand.  
"Nice to put a name to the cute deputy's face. I'm Jax."  
The nickname flows from his lips, because he's just so used to it, and as he talks he doesn't give a single thought to the fact that he should've said he knows Stiles already, told Stiles that he should know Jackson, doesn't think that it might get around to the point where he builds something worthwhile on a secret. He just gets lost in the moment and in those soft brown eyes that are basically sparkling at him.  
It's impossible not to fall a little back in love with him already, fueling the old fantasies with new pictures and the gentle feel of Stiles' hand, and a matured, slightly-raspy-from-shouting-over-music type of voice. 

 

~~

 

At some point during the night, Danny glances over with a startled look on his face, but that changes to a smirk soon enough when he recognizes the way the two smile at each other. Danny thinks that maybe, just now, he's witnessing something fascinating, a cliché enemies to lovers story.  
He doesn't interrupt them.

 

~~

 

They tell stories from work and college, Jackson tells Stiles about private school in London, after being asked about his accent, and the friends he had there. He just shrugs when Stiles asks him about deciding to move to Beacon Hills. Says something along the lines of having friends in the area, liking the scenery, and wanting a change of culture.  
Stiles talks about his last boyfriend and it sparks a bit of hope in Jackson, making him more daring in his attempts at flirting with the taller guy. He seems to jump right onto it and as time passes, they got closer and closer; a few feet turn into one turn into a few inches to finally being pressed together at the knees, constantly touching each others legs and shoulders as they laugh together. At some point, a strand of Jackson's dark hair falls into his face, and Stiles pushes it back behind his ear, fingertips lingering at the nape of his neck. Jackson takes it as an invite to lean closer, and next thing they know is they are kissing.  
Between laughing and talking and the soft lips pressed to his, Jackson forgets all about his secret.  
And when he gives his number to Stiles and they decide they'd rather meet again for a date than head home together and forget about each other in the morning, it might cause Jackson to smile the entire way back to his flat, until he falls asleep buried in his blankets.

It's barely a day later when Jackson gets a text, three in the afternoon to be precise. He's just lazily roaming on the couch after his daily run and a shower, towel still wrapped around his hips, so he kind of longs for entertainment.

 **From: unknown number**  
_Morning! Damn I really hope you didn't give me a fake number yesterday, that'd be awkward for me and all others involved. -Stiles_

**To: unknown number**  
_Who are you exactly? I don't recall giving anyone my number, I was in bed sick all day? -Tim_

Jackson grins, unable to resist the temptation of teasing the other boy. He thinks it might be too mean for a second, but he's gonna tell him in a second anyways, so it's only temporary trauma. He saves the treasured number in his contacts before looking at the text.

 **From: Sti**  
_Uh... Well it seems like the cute date from yesterday wasn't as interested in me as I was in him then... Sorry to bother you Tim. I'll leave you to it then._

Jackson hurries to send a reply before Stiles throws his phone away.

**To: Sti**  
_Stiles, I'm kidding. Why the hell would I give you a wrong number?_

And then another one once what Stiles was saying sinks in.

_So, you think I'm cute huh? And you're interested?_

**From: Sti**  
_Maybe. Also, fuck you, Jax. You scared the shit out of me right there. Actually, I might not be entirely sure if it's actually you or just Tim being kind._

**To: Sti**  
_Need some proof it's really me? ;)_

Damn him if he sends a selfie after it, flirty smile on his face, wet, ruffled hair hanging into his eyes just a bit and just hinting at his shoulder and chest muscles.  
Stiles sends an x-eyed emoji back to him, and Jackson chuckles. It gets stuck in his throat though when the other man sends a picture, too. It shows him in his deputy's uniform, the shirt of it buttoned only half way up his chest. The grin he sports makes him look so sure of himself, like he knows Jackson is actually melting on his couch right now. It's way too desirable how much he looks like he used to, and how much he has changed. 

_Two can play that game, pretty boy. I'm headed to work now, don't distract me too much. Ttyl_

 

~~

 

Any bit of time they can, they spend together. Stiles feels like there's a pull in his chest, always dragging him towards the other guy. He can't really resist it and frankly, doesn't want to either.  
They go to the movies together and it's like a proper first date. It's a terrible horror movie that they both could only laugh at. Stiles is silently feeling guilty, because Jax doesn't know that he does because he's encountered worse. Jackson is, too, because he knows that Stiles has seen so much worse, _experienced_ so much worse, but doesn't know that Jax has, too. They don't talk about that, though. They just enjoy leaning into each other on the worn cinema chairs, and sue Stiles if he pretends to be scared once or twice just to grab Jax's arm and feel his bicep twitch under his fingers.  
They hold hands on the walk to Jax's car afterwards, only letting go to get in and buckle up before their hands meet again and rest together on the stick shift.  
Jax drops Stiles off at his place and they hug goodbye. Neither dares to kiss the other one, though.

Their second date is mini golf, which is the most ridiculous, sappy date thing either of them have ever done, but it's fun and Stiles is unsurprisingly bad at it. So bad, in fact, that Jax places his hands around the club over his, arms wrapped around the taller male in a ridiculously cute manner, and helps him score. Stiles just laughs, intertwines their fingers and rests his cheek on Jax's dark hair. They stay in that position way too long for it to be friendly, but they don't dare to move, because they feel whole. Neither dares to kiss the other one, though.

Jackson doesn't take too long to realize what it means. It's the first full moon back in Beacon Hills, since meeting Stiles again. And he's used to Stiles being his anchor now, he has been ever since he accepted his attraction towards the other guy in London, but this time it's different. His wolf growls inside him at the lack of his beloved, and he curls up in a ball in the woods, heart aching because he knows Stiles is probably just back from his late shift, and it would be so _easy_ to go there and curl up to him, but he's pretty sure that right now, it would be a very bad idea. Everything inside him is burning with the desire to claim Stiles as _his_ , to mark him and keep anyone from touching what is his ever again.  
It's a need that he never dared to think he'd experience, even though he'd read all about it, talked about and even seen it in the Cuevas pack.  
The attraction to another person, usually wolf, sometimes magic, rarely ever human, stronger than any other feeling.

He didn't dare to put the name on it, even though he knew with a painstaking certainty.

 

~~

 

They're chilling on the couch in Stiles' apartment after their (accidentally, but luckily) matching Wednesday morning shift and having a late lunch together, a movie playing in the background, when Stiles shuffles closer to him and leans in for a kiss. It's the first time since that night at the club, with trying to take it slow and all the time they didn't have to meet up due to their attention-demanding jobs.  
His lips get closer to those of the dark-haired man and he feels his eyes drift to a close, until Jax turns his head and softly pushes him away. Stiles is stunned and confused, especially more so when he sees the slightly pained expression that the other male sports, some kind of guilt in his eyes that Stiles couldn't figure out.  
“Sti I... can't do this. There's something I still need to tell you first and I don't think I'm ready to, I don't know how, and I'm pretty sure you won't want me anymore once you know, so it'd be unfair to take advantage. Can we... Can we push this off until I've figured myself out? And once I've told you, if you still want me, I'd happily make out with you all day long, but... I still need some time to think.”  
Stiles just nods quietly at that monologue, leans back and watches as Jax picks up his jacket and rushes out the door. He keeps his eyes fixed to the ground in front of him, just in case Jax looks back and sees the emotions currently rushing through Stiles all over his face. He has never been good at hiding what he's feeling, and right now he's not even sure how to try. 

 

~~

 

Jackson rings Danny as soon as he's out the door of the apartment building.  
“Buddy? I think I messed up big time and I might need you to slap some sense into me. Can you meet me at the park?”  
He can basically hear his best friend shaking his head over the phone and see the way he is probably rolling his eyes right now. But it wouldn't be Danny of he didn't agree right away.  
“Yeah, sure. I'll be there in 15, you're lucky I already got dressed because I planned on getting groceries. Wait for me at the bench.”  
And Jackson waits, Pacing back and forth until he gets pressed down onto the bench behind him.  
“Sit, your running is already getting on my nerves and I've been here for all but two seconds. Now talk, what exactly did you do?”  
A sigh,  
“You know I've been spending time with Stiles, right?”  
“Yeah?” Danny drags the word over the span of a few seconds. “He's all you've been talking about recently and I saw you two at the club pretty wrapped up in each others mouths. I've seriously wondered about how he just up and forgave you for everything you've done to him all through school. Wouldn't have taken him for one to hate you forever either, especially with how you've changed, but I at least expected him to give you a little trouble in the beginning, Jax.”  
Danny watches quietly as his friend pales and chokes on his words for a while before actually talking.  
“That's... kinda the thing... He... didn't recognize me when we first met. Or the second time. Or at all. And I loved how he didn't judge me and I could just forget everything and simply be the new me around him...”  
“And you just didn't tell him? AT ALL?” Danny's voice gets considerably louder towards the end, and Jackson is only a few milliseconds away from flinching.  
“I couldn't! And now I'm in love with him more than I ever was and denied myself to be when we were in high school and I can't really just go up to him and say _`Hey, Stiles, I'm in love with you, and by the way, I'm your old childhood bully Jackson Whittemore!`_ , Can I? He'd hate me. And I'm scared of losing him because I was a stupid teen in denial.”  
Jackson's voice gets more and more quiet towards the end before he takes a deep breath and looks at Danny. He kind of expected his best friend to be shocked and look all stunned out of reality.  
What he didn't really expect was the tall guy in a dark hoodie, a mere ten feet from him, dropping his coffee cup and staring at him. He didn't expect the small, weak “No.” that escapes the strangers lips.  
He takes a closer look at him.  
It's Stiles.  
Stiles, who just turns around and _leaves_.

 

~~

 

Stiles doesn't expect to get into this situation either. All he planned on doing after Jax had disappeared was to get a cup of hot chocolate from Beacon Hills' best coffee shop near his apartment, maybe a brownie, because damn these guys know how to make comfort food.  
But now, as he's walking through the park, he sees the dark, long hair framing Jax' profile and the other guy that stands in front of him. Maybe, he thinks, that's what it is- Jax' secret. Another guy. He pulls his hood up and hopes to just walk past them, without being recognized or hearing too much.  
As he gets closer, he recognizes the other guy as Danny Mahealani, and his heart sinks. Of course, even now, he can't compete with his former classmate. He'd always been prettier, more charming, more friendly, and Stiles couldn't even hate him for it, because you just had to like Danny.  
He can't seem to help it now and swerves a bit to the right and closer towards them, trying to catch what they are talking about.

“...talking about ... at the club pretty... seriously wondered... you've done to him... with how... expected...give you a little trouble”  
Danny talks first, and Stiles gets distracted with wondering what they're talking about.  
“And you just didn't tell him? AT ALL?” He hears Danny shout, and it snaps him back into the right time.  
“I couldn't! ... in love… more than I ever was and denied myself... can't really just go up to him...”  
Stiles hears Jax clear enough now, because he has talked himself into a rage and is almost yelling. _`Hey, Stiles, I'm in love with you, and by the way, I'm your old childhood bully Jackson Whittemore!`_  
Stiles is standing still now, a mere ten feet away from them.  
“Can I? He'd hate me. And I'm scared of losing him because I was a stupid teen in denial.”  
The next things happen in a haze for him, in pieces of seconds and steps.  
A few seconds for Stiles to take everything in.  
A few seconds for Jax to look up to Danny, then at him.  
A few seconds for his hot chocolate to slip from his fingers and fall to the ground, splattering on the dirt and turning it darker.  
Then a few seconds for the realization of who he is on Jax' face and the panic that follows it.  
He barely hears the “No” slipping from his lips.  
Another few seconds for him to turn around, the hot chocolate forgotten, as he starts to walk away in a daze.  
A few hundred steps for him to sink to the floor , staring into nothing, feeling nothing and everything at the same time, in the hallway of his apartment building.  
A closed door to dull Jax' – no, Jackson's- voice coming from the other side of the wall.  
A few ghosts of the past awakened to him.  
A few old horrors.  
And silence.

 

~~

 

Nobody can tell Jackson that he doesn't know how to take a hint. After Stiles doesn't open the door, ignores his fifteenth text and doesn't answer his seventh phone call, he leaves his doorstep and stops trying to reach him on the phone. He even locks his own smartphone into his safe and gives the key to Danny while they go out to Jungle to get blackout drunk that weekend.  
He's pretty lucky that it's his weekend off and the week has been quiet. On the other hand, he's not entirely sure whether to be glad or sad that he didn't see Stiles all week due to work. The only police-called ambulances he had to man since Wednesday were on Stiles' day off Thursday afternoon, and two on Friday morning. 

At the club, his best friend is kind of awkward around him, mainly because he has rarely ever seen Jackson sad, let alone this devastated. So he sticks to buying him drinks occasionally and cheering him up by dancing with him, because Jackson doesn't want to dance with anybody else. And maybe, just maybe, he overdoes it on the drinks aspect of it all, because later that night, he has to carry Jackson out of the club with _both_ arms slung across his shoulders so that he doesn't topple over. 

The late night - almost early morning air helps clear their heads a little and Jackson can at least stand on this own two feet again without face-planting onto the concrete. They stumble out into the street and Danny just lets his best friend lead the way; he knows all too well that protesting won't help him anyways. It's only after about a mile (That they turned into something closer to three, using the full width of the empty street with the curves they're walking) and the recognition of the bench he's seen before, that he realizes that this was probably a very bad idea. He quietly curses himself for not recognizing the park -or at least the area- earlier, because it's way too close to where Stiles lives nowadays.  
Luckily for both of them, Jackson decides to just slink down onto the bench, curl up into a ball and sob quietly. Danny sits down next to him, places a hand on his shoulder and strokes his thumb over the probably ridiculously expensive shirt fabric. 

“I know you're hurt Jax, and that's okay. But it'll get better, I promise. Remember how devastated I was when I broke up with Paul? When you had to calm me over text because you were in London? I was heartbroken and it took a while but I'm fine now. You'll be fine too.”  
Jackson's reply is surprisingly loud for how wrecked he is, voice slurred by tears and alcohol.  
“... do. But … not sure I'll be fine. I ruined everything... Sure he's my mate. Didn't figure it out 'til I turned and moved and got back here.”

 

And then he's in full-blown crying mode, and Danny is so occupied with taking care of him that they don't notice that for the second time in a week, there's a figure standing near them in the park while they talk about Stiles, back turned to the faint traces of a sunrise.

 

~~

 

Of fucking course Stiles has to work the night shift all weekend when all he wants to do is curl up in a ball on his couch and maybe get a little drunk while eating a bowl of ice cream. Or pretty drunk while eating an entire box of ice cream. He's stressed out, don't blame him for leaning on bad rom-com movie coping mechanisms. 

His heart feels absolutely empty and like it's bursting at the seams with pain at the same time, and he hasn't been able to sleep properly the last two nights.  
Maybe that's due to the memories rising, of Jackson how he used to be in high school, cruel and gorgeous and so far out of reach that, even though Lydia was right up on his level, it seemed more rational to project his feelings onto her than admit the weird kind of Stockholm-syndrome he was experiencing. He can kinda see the resemblance if he thinks about it, but he didn't, because he didn't expect Jax...Jackson to turn up and be someone he knew. And damn, it's hard to match the name he's known all his life to the person he spent the last weeks with, because it feels like Jax is a completely different person. Trying to blend old memories of his childhood bully with new ones of the guy he is falling in love with -and he is, there's no way of denying that- seems impossible.  
He kind of understands why Jax (Jackson) did it, and that may be the worst part. Because it's easy to say that he might have sat down to talk with the cute medic with the pretty smile, even if he had known it was Jackson, but the truth is, he isn't all too sure about that. If he had heard, “Hey, Stiles, remember me? It's me, Jackson!”, he's pretty certain he would've turned his back and walked away before the other would even have had the chance to mention he'd changed. He would've... 

He's about to get too lost in his thoughts again, spiraling himself straight into an anxiety attack, his phone alarm rings to tell him that he needs to get his ass to work.

 

~~

 

On the plus side, work is something that usually keeps him occupied enough to not be able to think too much, even though Beacon Hills is a quiet town. He's even managed not to run into Jax... Jackson all week because there wasn't a single incident on his shift that called need for medical assistance to align with Jax's work schedule.  
The downside is, weekends usually consist of him sitting around in his cop car patrolling until he's called to a bar fight or some type of drunken idiot bothering people on the street. On occasion, there's a break-in downtown, but not even that is happening this night.  
Mainly, he's glad when the shift is over and his coworker sends him home to get some sleep, probably blaming the worn-out look on his face on a long night of being tired.

Stiles decides to take the scenic route home, walking instead of driving, because he doesn't trust himself with a car anymore, his mind running approximately 500 miles an hour, and because he doesn't think he'll be able to get any rest whatsoever before he has finally thought this through. Why he doesn't want to stay away from Jax, even though it's Jackson, even though it's probably an awful, rude, inconsiderate prank his childhood bully is playing on him.  
But it's so hard to believe that with the way Jax looked at him, he really didn't mean any of it. That the deep rooted connection he is feeling is built on nothing but a joke.

And then, for the second time this week, he sees someone rambling to a friend in the park near his apartment. And for the second time this week, he notices it's Jax and Danny.  
By the time he recognizes them, he's in hearing distance, close enough to notice the tremble in Jax's body as he's crying. Stiles feels like he can see the tears on his cheek, almost feel them himself, even though he subconsciously knows it's way too dark.  
The Hawaiian is reminding Jax of his last heartbreak story to tell him everything will be okay, but it doesn't make the devastation on his face any less heartbreaking.  
He doesn't really intend to listen in on the conversation, he swears. But Jax's drunk voice is loud, and surprisingly clear, even through his sobs, and he can't help but hear what they are talking about.

“... do. But … not sure I'll be fine. I ruined everything... Sure he's my mate. Didn't figure it out 'til I turned and moved and got back here.”

Stiles feels like his heart is being pulled out of his chest. The realization dawns on him that it has felt like this all week, ever since he left Jax standing on his doorstep without a reply, and that any distance between the two of them feels too far because it _is >/i>. That he needs to be so close to him because it's his literal other half is right there and there's no reason in the world that they should stay apart. _

_He's pretty sure it should feel irrational, mad, illogical. Like his world is crashing down on him. But somehow, if he's being honest, it makes sense._  
Why he's always been attracted to him, and recently all the more. Pulled to him like a moth to a flame.  
Why his entire world revolved around the dark haired man recently and why he didn't even mind that it did.  
Why they fit so perfectly together in everything that they do. He remembers how they moved around each other in the kitchen when they cooked together, like they knew at every moment were the other was and what they were about to do, never bumping into each other.  
Why leaning into Jax's skin feels so natural and his head is the perfect height to rest his cheek on when they sit on the couch and he's leaning into Stiles's side. 

_~~_

_This time, he doesn't run. Mainly because he feels like the gravity of the realization he's just heard is gluing him to the ground, but also because he doesn't even want to. Jax is still crying, drunk, and looks like he's dying on the spot; Danny just looks overwhelmed. He has probably never seen his best friend like that before, Stiles can tell from the slight panic in his eyes as they look at each other._  
Jax still hasn't noticed him, curled in on himself and arms wrapped around his knees. His face is buried somewhere in between his knees, and Stiles briefly wonders how he's so flexible, before he takes a few painfully slow steps and kneels in front of him.  
His mate.  
His wolf.  
His Jax.  
He reaches out to stroke a hand through Jax's soft hair, slides it along the sharp jawline and tilts the chin up with his finger until Jax stares at him, visibly confused until he recognizes who's looking at him. Then his gaze turns visibly soft, and he begins to mumble.  
“Sti... I'm dreaming, right? Sti?”  
Jax unravels his limbs and leans into Stiles, obviously clumsy because he almost falls of the bench in the process.  
Stiles shakes his head and smiles a little bit, simply ignoring the question.  
“Mate, huh?”, and after a second of silence, “Come on, you need to sleep, and so do I. We're having that talk when you're sober.”  
He picks his wolf off of the bench and grabs his hand, then turns to look at Danny, who has a grateful expression on his face.  
“I'm gonna take him home to my place, okay? If you want, you can crash on the couch, too. It's way closer than your place.”  
Danny shakes his head no and smiles at him.  
“If you need my help getting him there, sure, but I don't want to be intrude on that talk tomorrow. That's something between the two of you and you don't need me hanging around to bother you.” He turns to Jackson then and asks, “Are you gonna be okay buddy?”, a bit like his friend is a little child, but gets a derpy grin as a reply.  
“...ll be fine. Thanks for... looking after me. You're a great friend.” His voice is still kinda slurred, but it sounds less broken and Danny goes up to hug him.  
“Behave, Jackson.”  
They smile at each other and part their ways. Jax keeps leaning closer and laughs when he stumbles, and Stiles feels happy. He feels right, exactly where he is, even though there's still a lot to talk about and he's still not happy about being lied to. 

_When they reach Stiles' door, Jax is almost wrapped up around him. Jax has decided that holding hands isn't enough for him, so he had freed his fingers from Stiles' grasp and pulled his arm around the taller man's waist, tugging himself safely under his arm and into his side. His face is buried somewhere against the side of Stiles' chest, which makes him walk ridiculously bowed down. Stiles laughs as he frees himself to grab his keys out of his pocket and Jax lets out a small whine._  
Stiles takes his hand again and pulls him in. As soon as they're inside the apartment, Jackson turns his face to the living room and his tipsy happy mood sinks a bit.  
“So I guess I'm gonna go sleep on the couch, huh?”  
His voice is a little clearer than it was at the park, trying to sound stable, but there's no way to overhear the shaky sadness in it. Stiles' heart aches a little and he shakes his head.  
“Don't be silly, I'm not letting you out of my sight with your level of drunkenness. Job's influence. Come on, get to the bedroom. I'll pick up a bucket, wouldn't want you puking on my carpet.”  
The comment is mostly teasing, and it makes Jax exchange the sadness for a slightly insulted sound of protest.  
“Behave, Jackson”, he echoes Danny's words, and it's the first time he has called him 'Jackson', out loud, in all these years since they were in high school. It's the first time ever he has called him 'Jackson' in such a loving voice, and Jackson's heart flutters, because it's a small sign of hope that maybe, just maybe, Stiles has already forgiven him and it'll turn out good. 


	2. Epilogue (in a way)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've heard your calling and here's the epilogue I promised! I've tried to put as much of your suggestions in as possible, but I couldn't include everything (especially because I suck at writing some things). This caused it to end up way longer than I anticipated, and surely way longer than a normal epilogue should be. But whatevs, here we go, i hope you enjoy reading!

Stiles is awake for most of the early morning, just thinking. Jackson had planted face first onto his bed, cuddled right in and made himself a home between his pillows, only to then use Stiles' chest as another one when he managed to squeeze in between him and the sheets. Apparently he undressed somewhere in between the hallway and the bed, so Stiles wrapped both of them up in a blanket and almost instinctively rested his arm around Jackson's hip. Then, he's just letting his thoughts run.

He thinks about their childhood, the first time he met Jackson, how they got along first and at some point started to hate each other. He doesn't even remember why it happened anymore, maybe some stupid little preschool discussion. The arguments and mean comments all the way through high school, getting pushed into lockers by Jackson and his fancy friends.  
He thinks briefly about the time Jackson spent as the kanima and the aftermath. How everything had gotten more quiet around him and he seemed more taken back, even though he never really integrated in the pack. He still feels a bit of pity and the desperation of wanting to help him, even though they never got along.  
Then he thinks of the night at the club, when he first met Jax. Met Jackson again under the nickname Jax. It's still hard to see Jax and Jackson as one, though it is getting a bit easier to make the connection between the two people now, with everything that has happened.  
He thinks of the flirting and the dates they went on, leaning into each other on the couch.  
He also thinks of the time after he found out that Jax had lied to him about who he was. How betrayed he felt, and somehow still feels in a way, given that Jax had not even told him himself.  
He thinks of what just happened that made Jackson lie in his bed right now. He hears him saying “He's my mate” over and over again in his head, and a realization sets deep in his stomach before he has even consciously made it. 

~~

Jackson wakes up the next morning in a bed he doesn't recognize. He's warm, slightly hungover, and cuddled up to a lean body, with strong arms wrapped around him and a hand in his hair. His first thought is “Fuck. I didn't go home with anybody yesterday, did I? No, Danny took me outsi-... Danny?!”  
He forces himself to open his eyes slowly, but with little success, because the room is bright, even turned towards the guy in front of him. The smell that fills his nose and the feeling of the skin under his fingers is so familiar that he's involuntarily relaxed, and that makes him worry even more.  
Then he starts thinking again, and some memories from the previous night flood his brain. It's blurry and unclear, partly from the crying he remembers now, but mostly from the alcohol. And then there's Stiles. Only Stiles, and that slightly worried, then amused face. Leaning into him, hugging him as he dragged him back to his flat. Which would mean...

A slight smile spreads on his face as he buries it deeper into Stiles' chest, before he pulls back with a tang of guilt in his mouth. Stiles. The person everything in his life revolved around recently. The person that he lied to and hurt. His smile fades out and he's tempted to just sneak out of the apartment, when Stiles' low, rumbling morning voice fills his ears.  
“You're not thinking about running away, are you?”  
Jackson's eyes open again, and he looks up at Stiles. The other man is frowning, that worried look is back in his eyes, so he shakes his head and forces a wobbly grin onto his lips.  
“Would I even manage to? You've got me all wrapped up in you.”  
The joke is terrible, and poorly delivered, but Stiles laughs anyways and squeezes Jackson a little bit tighter, which makes his heart pound in his chest. The mood gets a little lighter, and he feels like he can breathe a bit better.  
“Okay then, get up and we can make some breakfast, and then I feel like we need to talk about a lot of things. Especially about yesterday.”  
Jackson groans and decides to bury his face again.  
“Do I even want to know what I did? I'm pretty sure I don't, please let's never mention anything regarding that ever again, it's just nothing okay? I'm so-”  
“Don't do a Stiles and start rambling, Jackson. Now come on!”  
He gets dragged out of bed (in just his underwear, mind you, he's not entirely sure when and how he got undressed) and into the kitchen before he can say anything else, or think about the fact that Stiles is calling him by his full name now.

~~

It isn't until they're sitting in front of two plates of scrambled eggs, Toast and two cups of coffee that either of them dare to mention anything. Jackson is tense again, and too anxious to sit still even a second longer. Stiles looks relaxed from the outside, but he can tell that he isn't as calm as he pretends to be, so he just starts talking.  
“Stiles, I... I know that I have a whole lot of things to apologize for. First is probably everything I've done to you in school. I don't have any other good arguments for it other than I was confused, and scared, and clueless. I know that I liked you, even then. I just didn't realize what it meant and tried to get rid of it every way I could. I spent a lot of time in London working through that.” Jackson sighs and looks at Stiles for the first time since he started talking. The man in front of him looks understanding, like he has grown out of silly school problems.  
“Tell me about London. Everything that happened there, no matching things to the 'I grew up there' story. Just yours.”  
“I really didn't bend much of that, I tried to be as honest with you as I could. Actually, at some point when we talked, I even forgot that I based all of it on a lie. I just left out some stuff... But yeah, I'll start over.

So he tells Stiles everything. From moving to London, to running with the Cuevas pack, to dating Ethan. It's only then that Stiles chimes in again, and to some part of Jackson's brain, it sounds like he did back in high school.  
“Wait, you dated Danny's ex? You're kidding me, right? Tell me you're kidding Jax!”  
They laugh about it together, Jackson tells him that 'yes, in fact he did, and he probably is a terrible friend for doing so, but Danny did say he was okay with it', and Jackson continues lightly to tell his story. Until he stutters when it comes to moving back.  
“I missed it. Missed everything. The pack, in a way... and... I missed you. You were my anchor in London, you know? And I noticed that every full moon, my wolf would go searching for you. One night, when I was on a coast trip during my last break, I found myself standing at the beach, looking towards where America would be behind the ocean. I think that's when I really felt like I needed to come back, even though I pushed actually making the decision until after my apprenticeship.  
And when I was here and I saw you, I felt like home. And I didn't want to lose that feeling again by reminding you of the terrible person I had been.  
Talking to you at Jungle that night was everything I ever wanted, and I needed to keep you. I was a new person, totally free of the past and able to forget everything. I didn't even remember that I was a wolf, and there was no need to tell you because how could I have known that you knew. And then came the full moon and you were so close and I found myself curled up in your garden and realized that... You're my mate, Stiles. I couldn't tell you because I just didn't know how to explain.  
And then came the afternoon I ran away from you because I knew that I couldn't keep building things onto a lie and hope that it all would work out fine. At some point, you would've asked for my last name, or wanted to meet my parents, or see embarrassing child pictures, and then you would've been out the door in seconds. So I had to leave and figure out how to tell you. But I guess that situation solved itself, didn't it?”

He becomes quiet after that monologue, too scared of Stiles' reaction to the bomb he just dropped on him to raise his head. It takes what feels like hours till he musters up the nerve to look up at Stiles, but when he does, the other male is sporting the wicked smile Jackson has loved ever since their teenage years.  
“I know, Jackson. You told Danny last night. And you should really pay attention to who's around when you're spilling secrets to your best friend.”  
“Oh”, is all that Jackson manages to say to that. He's confused, because Stiles' face is absolutely indifferent, just that soft, teasing smile.

There's a long silence of Jackson just trying to understand the situation.  
“You... don't seem angry? Or disappointed? Or... sad? I can't tell what you're feeling right now and it's making me anxious!”  
Stiles chuckles again.  
“I'd like to say I've had time to settle, but that would be a lie. I've thought about it a lot while you were sleeping though, and it just kinda feels... familiar, I guess? Like I should've figured it out way earlier because of course it would be you that's the right one for me. We've been circling around each other our whole life, in a way. And it's just... I don't mind it, you know? Actually, I'd say I'm glad it's you. Especially with the way you've been since you got back. I'm still not quite over being lied to, but thank you for telling me the truth today, I feel like it made me understand a bit more. I think...I'd like to try this with you. Like, a relationship, maybe? Only if you want to obviously, if you're not down I can totally understand, it's fine, I-”  
“Stiles, you're rambling. Yeah, I would like to try this. The only reason I didn't want to before is because I couldn't keep lying to you. But with you knowing, I really couldn't think of anything that would stop me from wanting to be with you.”  
Jackson reaches across the table and grabs Stiles' hand. He intertwines their fingers, and a small smile spreads on his face.  
“Sooooo...” -Jackson can hear the five O's in Stiles' voice- “What you're saying is, I can call you my boyfriend?”  
Jackson laughs and ruffles through Stiles' - his boyfriend's – hair.  
“Only if I can call you mine.”

~~  
~~

The weirdest thing about them being together is probably having to tell the pack about it. Mainly because many of them didn't even know Jackson was back, even less that Stiles and him were talking in any way that wasn't werewolf business. And telling the story about how they even started to get along makes Jackson's skin crawl with anxiety.  
Stiles and him have talked about it before, sure, but now that it's almost Thanksgiving and all their pack members are back to Beacon Hills for their 'seasonal break comeback pack party' (Stiles' name for it, the others had actively protested but he just didn't give a damn), it's a totally different thing.

They had agreed that Stiles would head out to the Hale house first, greet all of them and tell them that there would be an additional guest. Derek had agreed up front, with as much happiness as he could apparently show that Jackson wanted to actually integrate himself into the pack, that Jackson would be joining them. But even he didn't know that the two of them were together then, only Danny.

Now, Jackson is sitting in his new but simple car in Derek's driveway, waiting for Stiles text to come in as he fiddles with his phone. He's just out of hearing distance from the group, purposely, but he can hear the occasional laugh coming from the house, then hear Stiles yell “Shut up now will you, guys? I've got to tell you something.”  
He knows exactly what Stiles will say. He's heard him practice it in the living room when he though that Jackson was sleeping last night. He can speak it with him by now. 'We're not quite all here yet, I actually invited someone else to come here. And I need you all to behave, because he means a lot to me. And I know some of you know him, but you will still be nice okay? Meet him again and don't let the past cloud your judgment.' There's some wolf whistles and he can hear a boy shout “Someone's got a love interest!”  
He doesn't need to look at his phone to know that Stiles wants him, needs him to join right now, he can feel a subtle tug through their bond that calls him into the room even more than usual.  
So he walks up to the door and presses the door handle down.

~~

Stiles can see the confusion on the other people's faces when Jackson walks in and gives a slight wave. The only people that don't seem fazed are Derek and Lydia, obviously they wouldn't be, because they had met him before. But then there's Scott, questioning look in his eyes, Isaac sporting exactly the same face as Cora, both with their head tilted to the side and trying intently to recognize him. Kira doesn't look any less confused than the others. The younger ones seem interested, but also look sure enough that they probably won't know him.  
Stiles looks towards Jackson and gives him a smile that he hopes looks reassuring, trying to send some good vibes through their bond.  
“You can speak up, you know? I'll stop them from biting.”  
Jackson chuckles, then looks at the others he knows. None of them seem to have changed as much as he did, even though they all look older. Then he nods.  
“Hey, my name is Jax. I came here from London about three months ago, and ran into Stiles quite literally at work when he called my ambulance to help with a homicide, and then again at the club a bit later. He didn't recognize me, so I didn't dare to tell him that I'd lived here until I moved to college.”  
Isaac surprisingly is the first one to realize, Stiles can tell by the way his face changes. But he stays quiet and lets Jackson continue.  
“We've been in high school together, middle school, even elementary, and he just didn't notice who I was. I was pretty happy, to say the least, because in school, we weren't friends. Quite the opposite actually, I was a huge ass and treated him like shit. It got quiet once I got turned into a wolf, but I still never apologized, not until I came back and also had to tell Stiles that I had lied to him about who I was.”  
And there is Scott's bright moment, and full on oblivious to any bit of socially acceptable behavior, he just blurts out a loud “JACKSON?!”

~~

Jackson cringes when Scott yells his name. He can feel the air in the room shift from the smell of plain confusion and expectation (with the additional slight tenseness from Isaac once he had recognized him) to a mixture of anger (Scott), interest (the younger wolves he doesn't know but is pretty sure have heard about him) and a somewhat... neutral scent he can't quite tell what it is from Cora and Malia.  
The next thing he knows is that Scott is all up in his face, grabbing the front of his shirt and yelling at him.  
“What do you think you're doing here! I won't allow you coming back and starting to fuck shit up again! We were glad it was finally quiet here and that you were gone and now-”  
Jackson just lets Scott rage, tug at him and shake him around, because it's okay, he's angry and he deserves to be, because he treated both him and his best friend like shit when they last met. He probably wouldn't have acted much different if he hadn't been in London and trained with the pack there.  
But of course Stiles, lovely little Stiles with his superhero personality, has to try and step in.  
“Scott leave him alone, he ha-” A yell, and from the corner of his eye, Jackson sees Stiles stumble backwards and fall. In a heartbeat, he has ripped himself free from Scott's grasp, hurried over to Stiles and caught him before he can hit the floor.  
The next thing he knows is his eyes glowing and a growl rise in his chest, because he can feel the subtle panic and pain that Stiles feels right now, and smell it on his skin, and his wolf is getting uncontrollably angry about it.  
“ _DON'T ever push him again, or I swear I will make you regret it, McCall._ ”  
He doesn't even notice that he is face to face with Scott again until Stiles' hand is on his side, gently putting just enough pressure on his skin to make him calm down again and lean into the taller man. Isaac and Cora have now gotten up and pulled Scott back down onto the sofa.  
“Love. Breathe, I'm fine, see? You can feel that I'm fine.”  
Stiles, for all he tries, is a terrible liar, especially when talking to a werewolf. Jackson can feel that his mate is in pain, and it's not helping his frustration, so he turns and puts a hand on Stiles' chest where he thinks Scott elbowed him. It still takes some concentration for him, because he hasn't really done it often, but he manages to focus and pull Stiles' pain away from him, into his own body, before it dissipates. 

Derek shows just the hint of a smile, and he looks knowing. Of course he does, he's the oldest wolf in here after all, and the only one there that was raised by a mated wolf couple. In his own way, it's obvious that he approves and that he's glad that they managed to find this.  
“Stiles, do you want to continue telling them the rest of it? They probably can tell anyways now.”  
His boyfriend chokes in shock, obviously unprepared, and begins stuttering.  
“I...uuhh... Sure... So, when Jax and I got around to hanging out more, we figured out that we got along super well... I found out that he had been keeping his identity secret, and got mad, stopped talking to him... and I noticed that I felt like hell warmed over without him around. And then I found him and Danny at the park, and we had a long talk about it and how there was a whole lot of interest in each other anyways. And he dropped the bomb on me and told me that I'm his mate.”  
Stiles grabs his hand softly and laces their fingers together, and Jackson can hear Scott choking. There's a little bit of malicious joy somewhere deep in Jackson's stomach, but it's mostly covered by worry. Because he's not entirely sure about how the others are going to react, if they're gonna warm up to him eventually, if he's gonna be able to not fuck everything up. 

It's quiet for a long time before Lydia speaks up.  
“Are we just gonna keep staring at them until somebody explodes? Because I can't be bothered with that. We've had our welcome back already, so just congrats on you two working things out. I've been so over this situation ever since fourth grade. What do you think about making some food?”  
And Jackson is so incredibly thankful for that, because the tension in the room clears immediately and everyone starts talking again. Some of the younger kids (Mason is the first one, Jackson remembers) start to ask Jackson about his life a bit, Malia comes up to him and punches him in the chest for not saying anything about coming back earlier. He laughs with her and apologizes, saying that he just wanted to get everything settled at first. Kira is the first one to ask inappropriate questions that Stiles just winks at, which causes Scott to flee the room and argue that he's gonna puke if he needs to hear about his brother's sex life. He doesn't seem happy about the whole situation, and Jackson doubts that he will be any time soon, but at least he's not clawing at his throat for the time being.

The room feels warmer now, and he is incredibly grateful for the easiness they give him and Stiles. The entire time they spend at the hale house, Jackson feels like home.

~~  
~~

Stiles clings to Jackson and groans as he slaps around on the nightstand in hopes of hitting his boyfriend's alarm clock.  
“Noooo Jaax don't leave! You can save the world later.” He whines before burying his face between Jackson's shoulder blades and squeezing his arms tightly around him.  
Jackson chuckles, turns in Stiles' grasp and kisses his forehead lightly, then nudges his cheek with his nose.  
“Out of all the things I can't believe about the world, how you can be so energetic at 5am while still hating mornings is the biggest mystery I've had to face. And I've been a goddamn reptile before.”  
He forces himself out of bed and grabs a pair of running shorts from their (forcibly shared, because Stiles just keeps leaving clothes at Jackson's place) wardrobe.  
“You know, you could always join me on my morning run if you wanna spend more time with me...”  
He gets rejected by a yelp and a flying pillow to his side.  
“Get out, I'll get started on breakfast you nerd.”

~~  
~~

It's the evening of a full moon, and Stiles feels equally excited and anxious, because it's the night after their wedding day, and he'll be out running with his husband tonight. It may not be he first time that Jackson has taken him out on a run, but he's pretty sure that it will be the most important one. Because maybe the wedding was a big thing, sure, he's human and has wanted to get married ever since he saw his parents' wedding pictures, but he also is a werewolf's mate, and he can feel the pull of the mate bond on his chest, especially on this night, and the slight, lacking feeling where he notices the bond is still unfulfilled.  
But he knows that it's about to change tonight, and his neck tingles in anticipation where he knows his mating bite will be soon enough. It's a thrilling feeling to know that soon, he'll not only be married to Jackson by human law, but also by werewolf standards.  
He's read up on basically everything regarding the mating rituals in wolves, googling his way all the way through the internet (even dabbling in the deep web in a safe browser at his local Starbucks) back-checking everything he could find with the few details on it with the few details he could find on mating in the bestiarium and some of the books in Derek's library. He would've asked Derek about it, but he was way too awkward revolving all the details, so he stayed veery far away from that conversation, even though he knew Derek was looking at the books he had carried out the house and stacked on his desk.  
Now, it's nearing sunset and Stiles is sitting on his bed, all done and prepared to leave in a few minutes, even more nervous than he had been the previous day in his pretty wedding suit and tie. Because this was even bigger than putting a ring on his finger. A mating bite meant staying with Jackson forever, until one of them died, and Stiles is incredibly afraid of doing something wrong. But over all it's just another small little supernatural thing to do, and Stiles is totally prepared to master all of that, right?

 

~~

Jackson is positively panicking. Mating rituals are a serious business, as far as he has been told. When he first suggested the idea, not wanting to only be married formally, but also in the morals of the magic world, Jackson had been dead afraid of messing up and driving Stiles away from him, putting too much pressure on him, but his boyfriend had just laughed and said he'd already been waiting for the bond to come up. It had been easier then, talking about their plans for it with Stiles, watching him pile up books on their shared office desk and browse the internet for ages.  
He had been hesitant to ask Derek about it, but when it came to it, the talk was way more chill than he had expected it to be and took a lot of his worries away. Well, that was until it was time to meet his newly-wedded husband at the edge of the woods near the Hale house. He was out running to clear his mind beforehand and prepare some last things for the night, and now he's just pacing back and forth, getting more and more impatient. 

He hears Stiles a long time before he sees him. He's still driving his old jeep he has had for ages, and even though Jackson has taken him to get it fixed properly and get an all-round check, it's still louder than the average car. When Stiles gets close enough, he can feel a wave of anxiety hit him and it somehow makes him smile to know that he's not alone, that their bond is getting strong enough to feel each other even at a distance now.  
When Stiles gets out of the car (way further away from the house than they had planned to, because Jackson feels too pulled by the moon and the bond to keep standing still and wait), Jackson is with him in an instant. He pulls him into a deep kiss, wraps his arms around the taller man like he wants to protect him from the world before he lets him loose again.  
“Hey, husband.”  
Stiles smirks, and leans in for another kiss.  
“Hello husband. Ready to do some insane mating in the woods?”  
“Don't say it like that. You're making me regret marrying you already and it has only been 24 hours!” But he is laughing, and so is Stiles, and it's just way too easy to let all his worries drop to run into the woods with his mate.

~~

Stiles still can't get over the fact that Jax in his semi-shifted form is actually, somehow attractive to him. It's somewhat weird, way too hairy for the way he usually likes his mate, but he's going to blame that entirely on their bond. He's pretty glad that he actually did take up joining Jackson on his morning jogs at some point, because he probably would be way more winded by now that they're sprinting through the woods. Jackson keeps jogging around him in a playful manner to tease him, obviously enjoying the speed and the way he can run freely with his mate. They jump over fallen trees and dodge branches, and at one point Jackson helps Stiles climb over an especially high stone in their way.

It takes them almost two hours until they finally settle down on a small clearing and stop playing around in the fallen leaves. It's only when he produces some blankets and a box with food seemingly out of nothing that Stiles really notices the backpack by his husband's side.  
“You brought me here on purpose, hm?”  
“Maybe... It is pretty nice though and I thought I'd like to bring you here. Secluded, no one hear to bother us... far enough out that no one can hear you screaming.”  
Jackson winks, a wicked smile on his face, and pulls Stiles closer.  
“Is that a threat or a promise, husband-dearest?”  
“Whatever you want it to be, my mate.”

Then they're kissing, wrapped up in each other, and there isn't a lot more room for talking. The clearing is cold, but Stiles hardly even realizes it as he's pressed against Jackson's burning warm chest, the others lips on his neck, just over his collarbone. He runs his fingers through long hair and pulls his wolf closer. He doesn't even need to say anything, it just feels like the right time, and he just _knows_ that Jackson feels the same way.  
The bite hurts, in a way, but it's overpowered by a whole flood of other feelings that cause Stiles to gasp. He can feel every single one of his mates senses like they're his own, feel every one of his emotions, can almost hear his thoughts in his back of his head. For a moment, it's like he can see himself underneath him, looking disheveled and flushed, and he realizes that Jackson is sharing his eyes with him.  
Stiles had read about something like this happening in rare cases only, and thought that the feeling would be fading away after a minute or so. But over the course of a few minutes, nothing happens, the only thing changing is that Stiles grows accustomed to the feeling. He can tell that Jackson is just as awestruck, because he's still kneeling over him, eyes staring directly into Stiles' soul with a look of pure and utter love. Once he's gotten himself back on track, he touches his mate's cheek softly and smiles.  
“I didn't expect it to be quite this intense. But nothing ever is a low-key thing with you, is it?”, Jackson teases, and smiles at his mate.  
“It's us. We were always all or nothing. Why would you expect this to be different? You had to know this would be everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this finally is it, huh? I've spent many boring classes writing on this now, so I'm really gonna miss this story.  
> As always, please tell me if you liked it and if you've found any mistakes, please tell me about those too so I can fix it.  
> Disclaimer: I deny responsibility for any and all plot holes.  
> Edit: I literally just noticed that the summary makes a huge secret out of Stiles' actual name, and then it's never mentioned again. Huh. Well, it be like that *shrug*


End file.
